Dear Reader;

In his reflections on Gregory of Nyssa’s The Life of Saint Macrina, scholar Kevin Corrigan boldly claims that Macrina’s life bears witness to the notion that “the holy one is not the one who is most remote from life, but she who was always at the heart of it.”¹ To Saint Macrina and her younger brother Gregory of Nyssa, this meant that the pursuit of holiness is intrinsically and indelibly bound to embodied engagement with the concerns of the world and of those who inhabit it. In other words, the task of the theologian does not simply consist of philosophising about the divine whilst tucked away within the safe confines of mere cognitive inquiry. Rather, learning to think and speak rightly about God involves the risky, embodied, and repeated practices of contemplation and activism, service and prayer. Philosophy and theology are not cognitive exercises that pull us away from our life, but rather, are ways of living that draw us to the heart of what is.

As the editors of Macrina Magazine, it is this total vision of the Christian philosophical life that we strive to realise within our work, our friendships, and our communities. Thus it is our hope that through the creation of this online platform we may practice “holding space” for such embodied philosophy. To this end, it is with deep gratitude and much excitement that we present you with our first issue, offering a multiplicity of insights, reflections, and stories that undergird what this philosophically driven life together might look like. 

In light of these aims, the chosen thematic heart of this first issue is embodiment. 

Embodiment is an essential condition of the Christian life. In this issue, we want to explore the gift and the difficulties of embodiment through different topical perspectives and forms of writing. If embodiment speaks to the fundamental interconnectedness of the Christian life, it cannot be approached in any monolithic fashion. We invite you to join us as we attempt to tap into this spirit of embodiment through varying points of departure; from reflections on Plato, to homelessness, to Wittgenstein, and ghosts. As Macrina so provocatively teaches us, the task of philosophy, the craft and practice of wisdom, is something essentially infused with our life on this earth as embodied creatures.

The pieces that make up each issue of Macrina Magazine will be released gradually, with new issue content being published every week. Once all content for a particular issue has been published at this pace, the next issue will commence.

Sincerely, the Associate Editors

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